Csiling  or finishing plate stbucttjre for pipe systems



July 18, 1933- R. L. SWEENEY CEILING OR FINISHING PLATE STRUCTURE FOR PIPE SYSTEMS Filed Dec. 1931 I0 47 gnwnfot Patented July 18, 1933 RICHARD LQSWEENEY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO CEILING OR FINISHING- PLATE STRUCTURE FOR PIPE SYSTEMS Application filed December 2, 1931. Serial No. 578,524.

This invention relates to a ceiling or finishing plate structure including a novel means for yieldingly' holding a plate in posi tion around a pipe, tube, or shaft, and in contact with a. ceiiing or other wall-where the pipe, tube or shaft passes therethrough.

An object of the invention is to provide a finishing plate so mounted with respect'to the pipe and ceiling or wall that elongation w and contraction er"- the pipe caused by conitions of heat and cold, will not have the efiiect oi displacing .the plate from its desired position in contact with the ceiling or wall whereby to present an unsightly ap- 1 pearing joint.

Anothcrcl iect considerable importance is the provision of means whereby the ceiling plate may, in very brief period of time, be securely iocked in position against the ceiling. The installation requires the expenditure of only a few moments of time.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the above stated character that maybe made inexpensivelyby means of of cheap sheet metal.

These and other objects are attained by 1 the means described herein'and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, 1n WlllClI Flg. l is a longitudinal cross sectional view of a floor and ceiling, showing in ele-.

7 sectional View taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of a modified form of the device of the invention.

Fig. i is a view showing partly in elevation and partly incross section another modified form of the device of the invention.

F ig. 5 is an. inverted isometric View of one form of ceiling plate that maybe used in connection with the invention.

A fault commonto ceiling plates as heretofore constructed and applied, was that no provision was made for naintainingat all times and in a practical manner, a close fitting joint between the ceiling plate and the ceiling through which the pipes or tubes extended. It was common practice to secure fast punching operations, and with the use the ceiling plate directly to the pipe, either fixedly or yieldingly, in which case the elongation and contraction ofthe-pipe due to temperature changes effected a movement of the ceiling plate toward and from the ceiling. In some cases'the plates were fixed to the'ceiling, but such installationwas difficult, especiaily after formation or pouring of the ceiiing material. It is desirable'to install the piping work of a buildingafter, and not 69 during, the "construction of the ceiling, and it is for the convenient accompiishment of this end that the device of the present inventionis pro 'ided. V

It is to be clearly understood that the device of this invention maybe employed whether the plate is to be associated with a vertical or horizontal pipe, tube orshaft, and that the word wall as used herein is meant to include walls which are vertical or inclined, as well as those which are horizontal, i. e., a ceiling. V I V In the drawing, 6 indicates a concrete floor in which there is provided a vertical opening? which may be lined with a suit- 5 able tube or form 8 that provides for the formation of the opening while the concrete floor is being poured. The opening or the floor is "adapted to receive therein the pipe, tube or shaft 9 which in practice extends through one or more floors such as is indicated at 6. A ceilingplate, indicated at 10, surrounds the pipe or shaft 9 and is yieldingly held in abutment. upon the ceiling 12 by a means presently to be described. 8

The means for holding the ceiling plate in position so that it will be unaffected by contraction or elongation of the pipe 9, comprises a sleeve or slide 13 surrounding the pipe and having attached thereto a clutching device 14 whereby the sleeve may 7 be slid in one direction longitudinally of the pipe, but precluded from movementin the V opposite direction. Suitable tension springs 15 and 16 have their upper ends 17 attached to the slide 13 and depend therefrom to a position below the slide, where they are attached, as at 18, to suitable lugs 19 carried by the ceiling plate 10. \Vhen the device is in position upon thepipe 9, the slide is precluded from moving downwardly, by reason of the gripping action of the clutching means 14. The springs and 16 are tensioned andthey serve to yieldingly hold the ceiling plate in abutment upon the securing surface 12 of the concrete work 6. The pipe 9 fits loosely within the central opening 20 of the ceiling plate, so that the pipe may elongate or contract without disturbing the ceiling plate or moving it from its position upon the ceiling 12.

In that form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, the slide 13 compriseswa length of sheet metal or other material bent to a substantially cylindrical shape and held in such shape by means of lugs 21 formed along one of the end edges 22 of the sheet, the lugs being received in openings or slots 23 formedadjacent theopposite end edge 24. The slide may, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, be provided with integrally formed channels 25 disposed diametrically opposite one another, which channels are adapted to house the springs 15 and 16, but as indicated in Fig. 3, the channels may be dispensed with and the springs permitted to lie along the outside'surface of the slide or sleeve 130. V

In the device illustrated in Fig. 1, the clutching device 14 comprises a length of flexible and resilient wire passed through the openings 26 in the channel portion of the slide, said wire being there bent upon itself at its midpoint and twisted as at 27 to provide a more or less rigid mounting in the region of the openings 26. The wire thereafter is curved to loosely fit the pipe 9 and has its free ends 28 and 29 twisted 7 together so as to form a closed loop which encircles the pipe. From the foregoing it should readily be understood that the slide or sleeve 13 with its clutching. device 14, may be slid upwardly along the pipe 9, but

that an attempt to move the sleeve downwardly along the pipe results in a binding or gripping of the clutching device 14 upon the pipe. .Accordingly, should it be desired to hold the ceiling plate 10 more tightly against the ceiling 12, it is necessary only to insert a blade or small strip of sheet material in the space between the pipe and the ceiling plate, and to push the sleeve 13 to a higher position upon the pipe'9, where it will be held by the clutching device 14.

In the device illustrated in Fig. 3, the clutching device comprises a fiat ring 30 having a gripping edge 31 for contacting the outer curved surface of the pipe, said ring being separable at 32 by means of a tongue and slot arrangement similarto that indicated at 2123 in Fig. 1. The flat ring type of clutching device may be hingedly secured to the slide or sleeve 130 at the location 33, by inserting the hooked end 34 of the spring through perforations 35 and 36 in the ring 30 and sleeve 130, respectively. In Fig. 3 the coiled springs are indicated by the characters 150 and 160. It should readily be apparent that the clutching device of Fig. 3 performs in the same manner as that shown in Fig. 1, to preclude movement of the slide or sleeve 130 along the pipe in one direction, while permitting movement thereof freely in the opposite direction. The connections of the clutching devices to the sleeve at 26-27 and 33'36, in Figs. 1 and 3, respectively, preferably are resilient and bent slightly to yieldingly retain the clutching ring disposed normally obliquely to the axis of the sleeve so that a gripping of the pipe thereby will result immediately upon attempted sliding movement of the sleeve in the'direction of the finishing plate.

In the modified form of the device as illustrated in Fig. 4, the sleeve or slide is dispensed with entirely. The springs 40 and 41 have their lower ends 42 hooked or Otherwise adapted for ready connection with the lugs 20 and 19 of the plate, whereas the opposite or upper ends 43 are secured to the clutch device ring 44 which corresponds with rings 14 and 30 of Figs. 1 and 3. Like the devices of Figs. 1 and 3, that of Fig. 4 may readily be placed about a pipe after installation. The clutch ring 44 may be pushed upwardly along a pipe bymeans of a blade or length of thin sheet material in order to tension the springs 40 and 41, as will hereinafter be more fully explained. If desired, the spring means may be of a single length coil having the wire 44 attached to its mid-point by twisting the wire, as at 45.

The finishing or ceiling plate 10 (Fig. 5) is of bi part construction, the parts 46 and 47 being hinged together at 48 and latched in the closed or circular relationship by means of a suitable latch 49. The foregoing described plate construction permits of disposing. the plate about the pipe after the pipe is installed in a building, just as the clutch device may be positioned after the the plate in yielding contact with the ceiling.

The device will remain in its elevated position within the ceiling opening.

If at any time it is desired to paint or otherwise decorate the ceiling in the region of the finishing plate, the plate may conveniently be held spaced from the ceiling to permit application of decorating material inwardly as far as the edge of the'ceiling opening. After application of the decorating material, the plate may be released to assume its normal position in contacting re lation with the ceiling. It should readily be apparent that elongation and contraction of the pipe or shaft 9 due to heating and cooling does not affect the position of the plate upon the ceiling.

The devices of the invention may be packed and shipped in a substantially flat condition, with the wires 14 straight and disposed upon the flattened slide portion so as to occupy but little space. The devices may be made with long tongues or fasteners 21 so as to render the devices applicable to many sizes of pipes. It is obvious that plates other than the type shown herein may be used in conjunction with the plate retainer of the invention,

It is to be understood that various modifications and changes in structural details of the device may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination a finishing plate and a device for holding same against a wall and in position about a shaft extending through the wall, said device comprising a yielding means having opposite ends, a shaft encircling loop forming member movable along the shaft freely in one direction only, and adapted to grip the shaft upon attempted movement in the opposite direction, and means for connecting opposite ends of the yielding means to a point on the loop forming member and to the finishing plate, respectively.

2. In combination a finishing plate and a device for holding same against a wall and in position about a shaft extending through the wall, said device comprising a yielding means having opposite ends, a separable shaft encircling wire movable along the shaft freely in one direction only, and adapted to. grip the, shaft upon attempted movement in the opposite direction, means for connecting opposite ends of the yield ing means to the wire and to the finishing plate, respectively, with the .plate in abutmentupon the wall and the yielding means tensioned between the plate and a point on the wire.

3. In combination a finishing plate and a device for holding same against a wall and in position about a shaft extending through the wall, said device comprising a longitudinal coil spring smaller in diameter than the shaft and having opposite ends, a clutching device movable along the shaft freely in one direction only, and adapted to grip the shaft upon attempted movement in the opposite direction, means for connecting opposite point along its length.

4. As a new article of manufacture a device for holding a. finishing plate against a wall and in position about a shaft extend ing. through the wall, said device compris ing a shaft-receiving slide, a clutching ring encircling the shaft and secured to the slide in spaced relation for movement to a cocked position on the shaft to permit movement of the slide in only one direction longitudinab ly of the shaft, yielding means having opposite ends attached to the slide and attachable to' a'finishing plate spaced from the slide andin contact with the Wall.

5. As a new article of'manufacture a de= vice for holding a finishing plate against a wall and in position about a 'shaft'extending through an enlarged opening in the wall, said device comprising a sheet of material to be bent about the. shaft to provide a loosely fitting's'leeve, mechanical means for maintaining the sheet of material in sleeve formation, a clutching device associatedwith the sleeve and comprising a length of material completely encircling the shaft, means for fastening said length of materialto a single point on the sleeve whereby to provide a gripping means operative to grip the shaft as the sleeve is moved along .the shaft in one direction only, and yielding means having one end attached to the sleeve and the other attachable to a finishing plate spaced from the sleeve and in contact with the wall.

6. In combination a finishing plate and a device for holding same against a wall and r in position about a shaft extending through an enlarged opening in the wall, said device comprising a longitudinally stretchable yielding means having opposite ends, a clutching device consisting of a. loop encircling the shaft and disposable relative-1y in a position obliquelyto the axis of the shaft, whereby said loop may assume a cocked position at any location along the shaft, means for fixing one end of the yielding means to a point on the clutching device, and means for attaching the opposite end of the yielding means to the finishing plate.

7. As a new article of manufacture a finishing plate supporter including in combination a sleeve member proportioned to fit loosely about a shaft or pipe, a length of flexible loop forming material a portion of which is secured to a point on the sleeve, and a longitudinally resilient member having opposite ends one of which is attached its Ito

to the sleeve and the other attachable to a-finishing plate.

8. As a new article of manufacture a finishing plate supporter including in combination a sheet of material adapted to be bent into' circular formation. about a shaft, a length of flexible loop forming material sufliciently long to encircle such shaft, a portion of which flexible loop forming material is attached to said sheet, and a longitudinally resilient member having opposite ends oneof which is attached to said'sheet and the other attachable to a finishing plate.

9. In combination a Wall, a finishing plate, a shaft extending into the Wall and having limited longitudinal movement relative thereto, and a device for holding the finishing plate against the Wall and in position about the shaft, said device comprising a longitudinal coil spring smaller in diameter than the shaft and having opposite ends, a clutching device'movable alongthe shaft freely in one direction only and adapted to grip the shaft upon attempted movement in the opposite direction, means for connecting opposite ends of the longitudinal coil spring to the clutching device and to the finishing plate, respectively, said connecting means being located sufliciently close to the shaft to dispose the coil spring in substantial parallelism With the shaft, and means rendering the clutching device separable for reception of the shaft at any point along the length of the shaft.

10. The combination of a Wall having an opening therein and a shaft extending through saido'pening, the opening being considerably larger in diameter than the shaft, a shallow finishing plate surrounding the shaft and abutting the Wall, a separate anchoring means disposed entirely Within the enlarged opening of the Wall and connected to the shaft so as to move therewith upon natural elongation and contraction of the shaft, and a spring disposed substantially Wholly Within the Wall opening and having one end thereof attached to the anchoring means and the other end attached to the finishing plate.

11. The combination of a Wall having an opening therein and a shaft extending through said opening, the opening being considerably larger in diameter than the shaft, a shallow finishing plate surrounding the shaft and abutting the wall, a separate anchoring means disposed entirely Within the enlarged opening'of the Wall and supported entirely by that portion of the shaft which is Within the Wall opening so as to move With the shaft upon natural elongation and contraction of the shaft, and a spring disposed substantially Wholly Within the Wall opening and having one end thereof attached to the anchoring means and the other end attached to the finishing plate.

RICHARD L. S'WEENEY. 

